Charles Simonson
Forum Replies Created
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I would go with Episode or Episode Pro with Flash. This will give you your fastest exports and they will look fantastic. On2Flix Pro is a good option too, but slow. Squeeze 4.5 is new and claims to have better support for the On2 codec, but I have not had the time yet to verify this. But I have been VERY happy with Episode’s ability to encode Flash 8.
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MPEG-2 is the only compatible format for DVDs that need to be played in a STB. For graphics and it only being a 4 minute segment, I would probably suggest a high-bit rate CBR encode (~7-8Mbps). You will need to resize the encode to 720×480 on compression in order for it to be compatible with DVD spec.
In addition, since you are likely to have plenty of room remaining on the DVD after the main assets are encoded, you may want to include a high quality VC1 .WMV and a H.264 .MOV. These would have to be navigated via a PC as data, but it would be good to give the user the option to see a potentially better encode.
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Any reason why you chose the headed demux option? I would have just chosen the standard demux to m2v option. The headed option is only intended for if you want to make that asset compatible with standard dvd players. But in my experience, even if you are able to get it to work in DVD SP (which isn’t guaranteed), the resulting disc will only play for a few seconds on a STB. I imagine you are trying to burn a red-laser HD DVD with DVD SP, and in such case I would recommend the standard demux method. Just remember that you can’t build any menus if you want compatibility with the Toshiba STBs.
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With the Pro codec, you do have access to many more options, although it is directly via the codec’s properties ala the Divx encoder. There may be a few slight changes in Cleaner with the codec installed, but I haven’t used Cleaner XL in so long I can’t remember.
Download the trial of Squeeze, it should give you a good idea of what you can do with SV3.
I generally use automatic keyframing or something like every 200 – 300 frames. With SV3, the picture can be really negatively affected with lower keyframe rates.
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Yes, it is just a codec for QT and is then compatible with any QT Exporting application. The SV3 stand-alone encoder has been the defacto way of encoding SV3 for years and is very useful. Simply purchase the codec, run the installer, and set up the settings in Cleaner just like you normally would. I should note as well, that if you purchase Sorenson Squeeze, the SV3 Pro encoder is included.
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You are correct about the need for the Sorenson Video 3 Professional encoder. The standard encoder that comes with QT sucks. To get any kind of decent quality with SV3 you need the Pro version available from sorensonmedia.com.
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For QT, you can disable saving or editing changes. Cleaner has an easy enable button for this while encoding, but for other apps you can use a script available from Apple. Go to https://www.apple.com/applescript/quicktime/ Download the script collection and then look for a script called “Save As Un-Editable”. Read the notes to understand how it works and what it does to your original file. You should note though, as with anything on the internet, there really isn’t anything that is truly un-savable and there is a relatively easy workaround for those who know.
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Episode does 3GP as well, best on the market IMHO. And since Epsiode is now owned by the folks who own the Flip4Mac product line, it is only a matter of time before the best features of each are integrated into Episode. As far as Squeeze, the new 4.5 update looks promising, and as far as encoders, it is comparable to Episode now. But one area where Squeeze has always fell way behind Episode on is in pre-processing capabilities. Episode by far trumps Squeeze in this area, and unless Sorenson has made some changes that they haven’t publicly documneted, then this still remains. Also, another key difference is that the majority of Episode’s encoders are multi-threaded, whereas the majority of Squeeze’s aren’t. So if you have a dual or quad proc machine, you’ll benefit more in encoding times with Episode.
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In what I have seen in ASF Viewer in the past is still the same, then no, it doesn’t show you the “actual” bit rate. But maybe I am missing something? ASF Viewer is nice though for some of the stats it reports, and while we’re on that line, then I could suggest using a free binary viewer for those who are budget concious. With a binary viewer, you can go frame by frame on what each frame bit rate and size is. This is where Semaphore makes nice, as it can do all of this visually and efficiently with the use alerts and batch reporting.
And you are right about Episode being able to show you the rates after an encode was completed with the app. That is a very nice feature! But it would still be hard to correctly calculate the average bit rate of the entire clip.
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There has been a long standing bug in the F4M components in the way the decoder determines the bit rate of the file. Essentially, you can’t trust what you see in QT’s Info window when using F4M to decode. I believe it has to do with how the F4M decoder reads the bit rate based on what the buffer settings in the encode were; which depending on how full the buffer is when it reads the bit rate, can vary greatly, especially for VBR encodes. And since WMP on the PC doesn’t actually tell you the bit rate of the file, but rather the bit rate as set in the metadata, the only real way to determine actually bit rate for a clip is to use an application like Inlet Semaphore. https://www.inlethd.com/products/semaphore.html